Well balanced sound; revealing of musical detail; good micro dynamics; natural midrange and treble; tuneful bass with good low volume impact; high end sound quality; rock solid imaging; excellent timing and beat.

No heavy bass impact; I don't like jumpers on high end amps.

I just purchased this amp and it was intercepted by customs and then the FDA upon arrival via Airborne Express into the US. They lent me a Silver Anniversary Majik-IP to use until my IL unit arrived. Both amps sounded superb and I can't think of any difference in sound quality between the two examples separated by three years of production. My amp has the new case that has the slits across the top in immitation of their new flagship amp. It is a solidly built and attractive amp. The amp seems to be made how nature would make it if she were interested in such things; very solid and sensible with good basic proportioning. The casing is a step up from the cheap floppy casing found on most mid-fi, but it is not excessive in this regard. The circuit board looks to be of high quality even though it has such small surface mount parts. The sound quality is fine right out of the box, and I haven't noticed it change as it breaks in. I don't like the fact that the display shows two lines or "cat's eyes" rather than just shutting off when in standby mode; seems a little strange to me. The sound quality is superb and musical, though not exactly exciting in a "hi-fi" sense of the word. This is not the best loud disco amp but is superb with jazz, vocal, acoustic, electronic, Pink Floyd, and small-scale classical. The amp doesn't seem to have easily identifiable weaknesses; it is a serious high end piece of gear in my studio apartment simply because I can't push the amp hard enough to reveal any problems without annoying the neighbors. The beat is excellent and rock solid along with very stable and satisfying imaging. The mid base tuneful and solid though not heavy, so it won't bowl you over; it is not "weak bass" though. I would like to replace the jumpers with something more musically revealing, but I can't find these silver jumpers others have talked about on this forum. The amp is musically revealing, making high quality recordings come alive compared with poor quality rock recordings. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon sounds great with this amp though, as it did with my Nait 2. Treble is smooth and revealing with no brightness. I will keep this amp for at least a decade and probably replace the jumpers with a capacitor for the Vandersteen subwoofer to go along with my vandersteen 1C's. The Rotel RCD-971 sounds great through this amp, though I percieve a need to upgrade to a Linn front end. I use Linn K-20 speaker cables and Analogue interconnects.

Similar Products Used:

Naim Nait 2 (1988 - awsome little amp)

I purchased the Linn Majic on a whim during December of last year. I had owned a naim nait II and loved the sound that that gave me, even driving my Quad ESL 63s. I do not buy new gear very often because of a Divorce (uggh) and not making mega bucks as a teacher. However, I like the sound of the Majik. It tuneful, neutral and has a fairly good soundstage for the price. And inspite of its 33 wattsm does have some kick in the bottom end. And as for the REMOTE... It works extreamly well, pointing it in any direction 15 feet away from the reciever. So gee, Steve, check your batteries.

Very musical - great midrange, crisp hights, and imaging. The MM phono stage taps into the potential of my Rega Planar 3.

I compared this unit with a Rega Brio. Using my existing gear, the Majik seemed more detailed and sweeter to my ears. The Brio may have sounded a little bit more rich in the bass area, but I still preferred the sound of the Majik, since to me its detail and overall sound were superior.
The system can sound even better when used in a bi-amped configuration with a Linn LK85.
I auditioned the MAJIK and Brio with a Linn Karik CD player and Linn Keilidh loudspeakers. Possibly I would have experienced "better results" with the Brio had I used the Rega Planet, as I've heard that the Planet and Rega integrated amps sounds really good together. But I figured that I would base the comparison using gear like my own.
The Majik should keep me happy for quite a while (at least until I can afford to go active). It's one of the best integrated amps I've heard.

Similar Products Used:

Rega Brio, NAD 317

Everything. Purely a musical amp. Spacial cues and bass are most noticable, but everything is incredible. Looks sharp too.

Possibly simplicity. For the gadget freaks who are more into how many buttons there are, and how many neon lights are displayed this piece will bore you.

Do not be fooled by this integrated being only 33wpc. It will play louder and more mucically than any 100wpc receiver and most +2K seperate components. It is Stereophile Class B rated, I understand why now. It is the cheapest (pricewise) Class B component on the list. Amplification can make as much of a difference in sound as your cd player or speakers. Nuff said. I feel like such a dummy for the rave reviews I gave on other equipment. This is the next level here!

Similar Products Used:

Luxman, Other Linns', Yamaha

P.S. ...replaced "jumpers" with silver "Kimber" cables and
AQ RCA plugs...staggering difference! If you are to get Majik's full potential, silver "jumpers ara A MUST!

I originally purchased the Linn Majik as an afterthought to my first high end system, which consisted of a Denon DCM-460 CD changer, Parasound HCA-1500A amp, and "home brew" bookshelf speakers produced by a small local manufacturer/retailer. Preamp duties were handled by a Creek OBH-12 passive preamp. (This system replaced an earlier receiver-based "mid-fi" setup.)
Having decided that much better bookshelf speakers were in order, I auditioned a pair of Linn Tukans at my local Linn dealer, fell in love with them, and ordered a pair on the spot. (By the way, the Tukans are wonderful; please see my Tukan review for more info.)

Plugging a pair of loaner Tukans into my system back home, I was very pleased with the sound, but realized that the preamp setup left something to be desired. (Not necessarily in terms of sound, but in terms of convenience.) I had auditioned the Tukans connected to a Linn Wakonda preamp and LK100 amp, and reasoned that the Majik would provide a similar sound. The Linn dealer agreed (of course!) and off I went a Majik-ing. (I later added both Linn interconnects and bi-wire speaker cable.)

On to the business at hand. In a word, marvelous. The Majik is very thoughtfully designed - for example, selecting a function (such as the "volume up" button) displays the current setting, without changing it, so that you can see where you are; the second press effects an actual change. The line-level version offers 6 inputs, including 2 tape loops; the phono version (which I have) sacrifices one line-level input. Build quality and appearance are first-rate. Sound quality is excellent - no hum, no hiss; lovely, highly detailed, non-fatiguing sound. Coupled with the Tukans, voices and string instruments, in particular, are extremely realistic. Plus, you can always upgrade by adding a Linn power amp for bi-amping, later going "active" for even better sound. 5 stars, hands down!

clear sound / small/ design / made in high quality/ you can listen a long time/ Majik is easy to sell, because people know the name and the product

to expensive

I had a Majik for a few years and listened witz:
Manticore M1 + Linn K 5 turntable,
Rotel RDD/RDD 980 CD
Triangle Alcante Speakers
I compared the Magik just with the Audio Analugue Puccini SE . The Pucini SE is two classes better!!!
The prize for the amps are similar in Germany, so buy the Audio Analogue!!!!
Or you make holiday in Mantua in noth italy, near lake Garda. In the Hifi-Shop in the inner city you just have to pay 500 Dolars fpr the Audio Analogue. A new one! (I talked with the dealer in summer 2001)
I think the "high quality" of the Linn is just a myth.

Remote control, compactness, good power rating for its size. As other Linn products, this is a very well design and engineered piece of equipment.

The tonal balance is rather thin and dry. Not very involving sound.

I have been using this as a secondary system at my bedroom. It feeds it with Magnum Dyna Lab Etude tuner, and tubed Cal DAC (Rotel RCD655 as a transport) for more than 3 year now. The speakers are B&W CDM 1. Orginally, this amp sounded ok but not great. I though about selling it many times but I enjoyed the convenience of the remote control and it's compact size enough. So, I kept it.
After a year, I replaced regulators(LM317/337)of its power amp modules (4xTDA5410s) with LT1086/LT1086. This improves the sound considerably. It sounds sweeter, more involving with more bass punch. With this level of sound quality, I can live with this it. Replacing the pre section's regulators should improve it further but I had hard time unscrewing the regulators that are fixed to the PCB. Also, I want to trying replacing the bridge rectfier with an ultra fast, soft recovery one.
Although I like it as it is now, I think you can get better value for money from Class' integrates.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Innovations 300II, Cyrus IIIi

LINN MAJIK
If you are looking for an entry level intergrated amp from one of the big boys in the Hi-Fi world you must give this a listen! Initially I spent many hours auditioning a wide selection of amps and desided on a Naim Nait III. After four
weeks and a call to my local dealer I returned the Naim disatified. I asked what there was left to hear, out came the Roksan and the Linn. Within minutes the Roksan was banished back to its shelf, but the Linn had grabbed my ear.
The Linn finally showed me exactly why I had brought the Naim back, the Linn's
self-control was fantastic, especially down in the low frequencies. I found so many other amps were adding, attenuating or glossing over different areas of the music which left an unpleasant and artificle taste. This was the first time I had auditioned Linn Equipment, and it won't be last.

The rest of the system:- Rega Planet, Mission 752's, Cable Talk 3 s/c and Linn Int/conn.

All I can say about the MAJIK is that I was a little bit let down. My Linn dealor had a 100% trade in policy for Linn products and was constantly goading me to trade in my Intek and two Powerteks for a new Majik and two LK-100's. After the trade in I found that the Majik did not sound as good as the Intek, and that the LK-100's kept shutting down at high levels with my Keileidhs.
As a simple integrated unit I found the Majik to sound OK but very wimpy.
The remote control is very bad for this unit and must be pointed directly at the sensor - even then it did not work effectively. Even though this is a budget integrated it still costs over a grand and should have an effective remote control.

The phono board add on is all right, but I still prevered the phono board in the Intek. I TRULY WISH I HAD NOT LET MY SALESMAN GET ME TO TRADE IN MY INTEK AND POWERTEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!